Bloody Vampires
by forcedapathy
Summary: Magnus turns his head slowly away from Jace, before relaxing and grinning brightly at Alec. "You interfered, my dear, in a particularly riveting part of a pissing contest between the New York vampires." AU, Malec.
1. Chapter 1

**Bloody Vampires**

What Alec would later term 'The Incident' happened on a seemingly innocuous Friday night.

He was strolling around New York, weaving in and out of the crowds of people. For once, he was visible to the mundanes; however, this probably made no difference because no one was particularly paying attention to any hapless individual who dared to block their path. Neither was he paying attention, for that matter. The voices, laughing, beeping of cars, the odd siren, it all created a backdrop for Alec to think to himself.

His parents were away, only Hodge was home, Jace was at a party some part-nixie had asked him to, and Isabelle, still too young to even be able to sneak into parties, was most likely training with her whip. Hodge, forever with his head stuck in a book, probably wouldn't even notice Alec wasn't in. He never usually noticed anyway - even if he did, it'd be hard to argue against, even with Alec being fifteen and the busy crowds late at night. The last things Shadowhunters worried about were mundanes, not when there were far worse monsters lurking in the darkness.

Alec liked walking around the city, even if people never really noticed him, because he noticed all the people. He watched the couples; young and old, the groups of friends, the squabbling siblings, the mass of individuals, creating one entity. Ignorant of the horrors which slipped by them everyday. It reminded Alec that he was not really as alone as fifteen year old Shadowhunter felt in the middle of a city that housed very few of his kind. Even fewer of the homosexual variety.

Slipping down an only slightly quieter street, he contemplated grabbing a coffee in the café at the end corner of the path, all whilst dodging the throng of oblivious people. The café itself was brightly lit and its two outward facing walls were glass, allowing you to see straight inside. It was alarmingly white everywhere and had those tacky metal tables and chairs that came in sub par cafés that sold good English breakfasts, in addition to its tea and coffee in polystyrene cups. Checking his pockets to make sure he had brought his wallet, he sauntered into the café and took a seat inside.

To her credit, the waitress only slightly hesitated when spotting a heavily tattooed, fifteen year old boy, sitting alone, dressed all in black. _It's a good thing she doesn't realise the amount of weaponry I'm carrying_, he thought a little wryly as she came up and flashed him an only mildly nervous smile.

"Hey, what can I get for you?" She asked, her pad and pen in her hands, looking at him expectantly.

"Um… just a black coffee, please," he mumbled at the table, avoiding eye contact. It was an unfortunate thing that despite his day to day task at killing demons, he generally did not have the guts to talk or maintain a decent amount of eye contact with anyone he wasn't well acquainted with, which added up to the grand total of six. Luckily, he had grown out the panic attack phase at about eight or nine when in social situations. Small mercies, he supposed.

She returned with his coffee after about five minutes, seemingly deciding he was too socially awkward to be a threat as she smiled at him encouragingly, probably now feeling the need to make Alec feel comfortable. He didn't bother to look up from his phone as he thanked her.

He had been looking at the absence of messages from Jace - that would say he had got horribly drunk and needed a hand getting home, which happened more than Alec would've preferred. As a general, Alec avoided the parties Jace attended at all costs: he really wasn't a party person, he preferred tea and coffee and chess and books and practicing his archery. Not to mind, if his parents found out, they'd flip. Not that they would necessarily found out, they were hardly home as it was and when they were, _they weren't_. However, Alec didn't want to disappoint them, even if they wouldn't know it.

He left the café swiftly after downing his coffee like an addict, deciding he should start heading home. It was a fair bit later than he had intended to get back and the air was beginning to chill considerably – which was what prompted Alec, at this point, to make quite a monumental decision. To be fair, at the time, he had no idea it was a monumental decision. It seemed like one of those decisions which is equivalent to whether you have one sugar or two in your tea - innocent and not likely to greatly affect the rest of your life. As it turned out, the decision was actually like when you decide to have two sugars in your tea and it contributes to your already crappy lifestyle and you end up with diabetes. And losing a foot.

As it was, this seemingly innocuous decision didn't make him lose a foot. No, it led to him paying a Greater Demon a visit as it nonchalantly tried to kill a bunch of vampires.

The actual decision was quite simple: Alec had decided to bypass some of the busier main roads and just take a few back streets. Nevertheless, this may've still been all well and good if Alec was one to subscribe to the 'all Downworlders are scum and should die' mentality. Now, whilst he could admit vampires weren't his favourite 'people', as a general - since they always seemed to be plotting something nefarious (said belief was not, in any way, helped by that night's occurrence), Alec didn't have an issue with any particular Downworlders. Nor did he believe they shouldn't be given help if they were being attacked by demons, since Alec was a Shadowhunter and it was his damn job to help those the demons pounced on. Well, it would be when he was eighteen - but that was neither here nor there.

Alec was moving steadily down the alley when he paused, frowning. The sounds of the city were more vague here, the sounds of busy streets not as apparent – though, Alec could hear a clearer noise. It was still faint, coming from somewhere further down the street, like a mixture of shouting and clanging. Moving closer and placing his hand on the blade tucked discreetly into his belt, he could smell the first few traces of a smell that Alec knew all too well: the smell of demon. At this point, Alec should've ran for the hills like the hounds of hell were snapping at his feet.

As luck would have it, he did not.

The smell was rancid and foul and Alec could feel his eyes watering. It was usually bad, he held, but it was never _this_ bad - not when the demon wasn't close, which just meant it was increasing with every step. Ignoring this as best he could, he jogged forward before he could see an alleyway that the sounds seemed to be coming from in the very poorly lit street. The street, however, was wonderfully lit compared to the light in the alley. Cautiously, Alec dug into his pocket for his witch light: it glowed brightly in his hand as he began to move down the wide alley.

There were loud noises coming now, getting louder the closer Alec got down the backstreet. They were horrible, squelching, cracking noises, accompanied by shouts and yells that Alec couldn't decipher. For a moment, Alec did hesitate: he was a Shadowhunter, but he was not stupid. Neither was he Jace. He wouldn't rush in without thinking about the consequences – not to the point of suicide. He was alone, without his bow, which was his best weapon, and facing some unknown demon.

However…

There were _voices_ - voices that were there now. People that could be in trouble. Or, alternatively, people who would see him and kill him. But he was a Shadowhunter. It was his duty to make sure people were safe.

Guardedly now, Alec made his way down the alley, covering his witchlight with his palm so only splinters of light erupted. Using the wall and small light he had to guide him, he could hear the sounds of a fight getting clearer. Just as he was getting closer, Alec heard a roar of rage so loud he nearly dropped his witchlight. Alec could hear his heart beating now, almost at the same volume as the roar.

From the cacophony of noise, the voices were clearer now.

"Raphael! Are you okay?" A clear female voice was calling with panic.

"Fine," a curt voice ground out.

Raphael? Alec thought to himself, wracking his brain: he had heard that name. It wasn't a common one, and if that was the Raphael Alec was thinking of, the Raphael likely to be engaging with demons, the one his mother would deal with in negotiations with the city's vampires, then he was stumbling across a vampire/demon fight. That was odd.

Vampires weren't demons, neither were they allied with them. However, neither did either particularly bother fighting each other unless their hands were forced. Back alley fights were much more for Shadowhunters and demons, and werewolves and demons.

Pausing, Alec considered his options. He could leave now and no one would be the wiser - only him and his guilty conscience… or he could draw some runes on himself and throw caution to the wind. Or, at the least, see what was going on.

Sighing at his inner Jace coming out, Alec drew some runes hastily on himself using the steele strapped almost imperceptibly to his boot. It stung a little as he did them hastily and with little finesse. Then he inched forward, using the light from his witchlight to show him the demon they were fighting, but still remaining in the shadows.

He then froze.

The thing was massive. Grotesque. It was somehow slimy and solid all at once. Its vaguely humanoid figure, though almost twice as large as an average human, was full of dozens of ancient looking bones sticking out from its gelatinous skin, black sores littering its body. Its fingers and teeth were razors a good twenty centimetres in length - the kind of length that would tear through a body like a knife through butter. The teeth were over his chin, like a sabre-toothed tiger.

This was way out of Alec's ability.

Fumbling for his phone, he scrambled to ring Hodge, ring _anyone_ – but he did not get the chance. For at this moment, a vampire had lunged at the creature, howling and hissing, feral and wild, its teeth ripping into its neck, clinging with inhuman strength, plunging her teeth over and over again into the mush. The demon howled, and shook the vampire away as if it was a fly. The vampire flew from the demon and soared rapidly through the air, straight towards Alec.

Alec only just stopped the collision by dodging out the way, moving in time only because of the angel blood in his veins and the runes on his body. However, the vampire was now slumped on the floor, groaning. Unsure of what to do, Alec dropped to his knees by the vampire, who was curled on the ground with masses of brown hair covering her face, and shook her shoulder. The vampire hissed as she looked up at Alec.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked, staring at the vampire lying on the floor. She had a dazed look about her, which abated as a faint pained expression came over her face. The vampire seemed to be checking her limbs by moving them tentatively. Then, without preamble or warning, she sprung to her feet agilely, startling Alec slightly.

The vampire, its eyes not affected by the poor light, seemed to be taking in the tattoos adjourning Alec, clear against his alabaster skin.

"Shadowhunter," the vampire hissed, scowling.

Alec blinked in response, uncertain what to make of this. "Umm…" he began, unsure of what he was going to say.

At this point, however, the demon had turned its attention to the vampire it had flung aside like a rag doll and was staring down at the pair of them. Alec turned his head slowly, seeing the look on the vampire's face as her eyes widened in alarm, looking at something he had his back to, all the hairs on his body standing on end.

If he had thought the thing was terrifying earlier, that was before it had fixed Alec with its stare. A demon's stare could be powerful, Alec knew that, but he had never grasped what it could do. His chest tightened painfully. He, for the first time fighting any demon, swore he could see his death mapped out with colour coding and clear labelling. Alec had been hurt before, had felt the pain of teeth or claws in his body, but he had never felt paralysed to the point of pain.

He was afraid. No, scratch that, he was fucking terrified.

"Child of the Nephilim," the thing rasped, its voice breathy and slimy and sending shivers down Alec's body. "I didn't know you were in this little party. I will enjoy killing you."

Alec had always known he didn't like parties… this was just the icing on the cake, he thought as he watched it speak. He also thought about some saying he had heard a while ago - it was something about how bravery was about how even when you were scared, you still did the right thing anyway. He tried to draw some strength from that, but he wasn't finding any metaphorical strength in that moment from profound words.

No, what really got to Alec, what really gave him the ability to move his limbs from where they had frozen, what really gave him the ability to swap his witchlight for his blades, was how unexpectedly aggravated he was.

"I will enjoy killing you," repeated in Alec's head and the only thing he could think in response to that statement was '_like **hell** you will'_ as he became, abruptly and categorically, _pissed off_.

Everyone assumed they could just walk all over Alec. Even some demon who had never even met Alec before – now, he assumed this was probably one of the least of the demon's sins, but it was still pretty insulting. They assumed he was weak, or not as skilled, as those around him. Yes, his talents and time was invested in long range weaponry, but that didn't make him _weak_. Izzy and Jace could barely shoot straight with a bow and arrow, which could be detrimental, but Alec was still decent in hand to hand combat. More than decent.

And you know what? It had to be tonight, didn't it? It couldn't come along when he was properly armed and prepared, Izzy and Jace ready with him. No, no, no. It did not. No, the great hulking entity came crawling along just when Alec had just enjoyed a nice coffee and a walk, all intent on killing him, when, Alec thought, he just happened to be standing near it.

_Bastard_.

This sudden spurt of annoyance gave him the push to move out of the way as its huge arm suddenly reached out, as the monster moved forward, swiping blindly. Its clawed hand flew through the air where Alec had been stood just a moment before.

Snatching a blade of his belt, Alec threw it with as much force in his arm that he could muster, which, as a trained, furious, rune covered Shadowhunter, was a substantial amount. It hit the monster's abdomen dead in the centre, buried to the hilt – and the blade had been a good ten inches. The demon looked, though Alec didn't think it would be possible, even angrier at this and tore the blade out, leaving a gaping hole in its stomach, as it screeched.

Alec just had time to role out the way, yanking his seraph blade out his belt, as the demon went for him again. He slashed the blade across the bottom of the monster's stomach as he moved, ichor splattering him. The knife had torn a good 4 inches into the monster and substantially more vertically, but the demon still didn't look particularly damaged. Moving on instinct now, the whole movement taking less than two seconds, he slashed under what seemed to be the demon's knee, hoping the demon had a tendon Alec could cut, before throwing himself out the demon's way sideways. His shoulder slammed into the floor - but he didn't have time to catch his breath as he forced himself to his feet. Hesitation could cause you your life. As soon as he had done so, the demon staggering from his injured leg, flung its arm out with alarming speed. If adrenaline had not been cursing through Alec's veins, he'd have been a dead man. As it was, he moved to the side enough to get slammed in the ribs by the demon's hand, its claws slicking shallowly through Alec's shirt and skin - his usual gear not there to protect him, and thrown across the alley.

He thought hazily it'd be best not to slam into the alley and break all the bones on one side of his body. Therefore, with a move no mundane could've pulled off, he gracefully bounced against the wall by pushing off with his hands and landing on his feet. After this rather impressive feat, Alec promptly had to stop himself clutching at his side in agony and keeling over: the bones were throbbing and his side was _burning_. He felt warmth slowly spreading down his side.

The demon was a good fifteen metres away now, but began stalking towards him. Backing away as the monster moved forward, he grabbed another blade as quick as a flash and buried it in the monster's shoulder with a flick of his hand. It didn't even bother removing this one, continuing to move forward. Alec was running out of ideas now, panic really settling in. He had at least managed to injure the demon: ichor was coming quite profusely from its wounds and it was walking with a pained, uneven gait.

Unfortunately, it could still rip Alec's head off and use it as a football.

Fortunately, the demon, like Alec, had forgotten about Alec's momentary fanged allies who, with brilliant timing, simultaneously leaped at the monster. One went straight for the leg Alec had injured, sinking its teeth into it and shaking it like a rag doll.

The demon screeched now, and grabbed the vampire which had attached itself to its abdomen, sticking its claws into the vampire, and by consequence, its own stomach and threw it to the side, sliding it off its claws. The red haired vampire did not bounce back up.

Alec looked around the alley and counted six vampires, two of which were still attached to the demon in the middle of the alley. Two more vampires, agile as cheetahs, attacked the demon, whose leg was now barely supporting its weight. The body then shook violently as three flew off unable to cling on, only the one on the leg remaining. The demon easily solved this, however, by reaching down and launching the vampire at the wall.

Alec, becoming more convinced of his imminent demise by the second, noticed a male vampire with curly hair and who looked about eighteen, crouching near him with his teeth bared and all his attention on the demon. Seeing this, the demon focused on the vampire as its new target. Its first swipe of claws, with the hand furthest from Alec, missed the vampire who darted out the way. The vampire sprang up and gripped the hand, twisting with his enhanced strength, the sound of splintering of bones filling the alley. Despite its now cracked, mangled hand and thanks to its immunity to the pain, the demon used it to wrap itself around the boy, its claws lightly cutting into the vampire's flesh.

What happened next was all a bit of a blur for Alec.

What he saw was the demon raise the boy up slightly and its body begin to move closer to the vampire, lowering itself down.

How he even got the strength or the speed to do something he believed only Jace could have done was beyond him. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Alec didn't know.

He wasn't really sure why he did it. He could see the long jagged teeth. He could see where they were heading. He could see the vampire was going to be torn to little snack pieces. Alec knew, without a shadow of a doubt, he would have died for Izzy, Max or Jace. In a heartbeat. No questions asked. He knew that with every bone in his body. Had always known that. However, he wasn't so noble to say he'd give his life for anyone; especially some bloodsucker who would most likely have killed Alec and used his bones as toothpicks if he had the chance.

Yet all Alec knew was that his feet were moving. He knew his hands grabbed his seraph blade, with almost no direction from him, as he ducked under the demons unoccupied arm, thankful that it was distracted with its upcoming vampire snack. Then, with all the strength he had in his body, he plunged the seraph blade over and over into the demon's chest, as it shot forward and sunk its teeth, not into the intended vampire victim who was now behind Alec, but Alec himself.

He had never felt pain like it.

The sound of ripping flesh, pierced bones, a crushing noise, a sickening squelching sound as the teeth sunk into Alec's chest and out his back, echoed around the alley. No cry of pain left his lips, all the air in his body frozen, draining from most likely punctured lungs.

The teeth didn't get the chance to rip out of Alec, a small blessing, he thought dazedly, as the creature exploded in a mass of ichor, its teeth remaining in Alec's body. Alec's seraph blade, which had been planted firmly in its chest, dropped to the floor with a resounding clang.

All that was left was silence. It was broken only by the oddest sound, like the kind of sound an outdoor tap makes when it has been half turned off but keeps leaking all over the concrete: a splashing, stunted sound. With trepidation, Alec glanced down at his chest and saw long white rods sticking out his chest, small rivulets of blood gushing onto the floor. Alec knew that the teeth themselves were keeping a lot of the blood in Alec's chest, and thought dazedly, _do not pull them out._

Like a switch, he felt like his chest was on fire, vertigo swept over him. He clutched his chest, failing to stop any of the bleeding, as he staggered slightly and then dropped to his knees. He was gasping now, panting for air that wasn't enough.

He contemplated going for his seraph blade, but knew dimly that no iratze was going to save him now. His legs were shaking anyway – he was unable to move and he just slumped to the floor on his side. Cold and tired, exhaustion in every limb.

_This is what death feels like_, he thought dimly, staring at the dark wall of the alley, before his eyes slipped shut. He wasn't fighting, wasn't thinking about his life or his family. He was just there.

The sound of tearing caught Alec's attention, as well as more cool air on his chest, and hisses. He tried to wonder what was going on.

"… that's awful, he'll never survive. I say to just let Lily drain him… she needs the blood… be a nicer way to go…" the voice was speaking, but Alec struggled to apply any context to it.

"No," a voice hissed, it said something else but Alec was too busy feeling a sudden stabbing sensation up his side. Dimly, he recognised bringing his hand to his mouth, sinking his teeth into the flesh to stop himself screaming, the taste of iron on his tongue. This gave him enough clarity to be momentarily aware of what the voice was snapping, "If you cannot handle the blood, then leave now!" Abstractedly, Alec wondered if anyone would dare leave. That was all he got, however, the rest starting to fade into mumbles.

"Not even… could help now…" another voice was arguing now, but was quelled by the stern voice which had protested before.

Then all Alec felt was more agony as he was hoisted up into a pair of arms. He meant to scream, the pain was worse than he had ever felt, like every part of his chest was on fire, burning him alive. However, the only sound that came out was a shuddering gasp. Then there was cool air whipping around him and Alec let the waves of exhaustion drag him under, knowing there was nothing else to do.

* * *

><p>He dreamt, but he didn't. All he saw was black. Black around him, voices, and agony. Lots of agony. He felt like he was trapped in a sort of purgatory full of pain. He prayed for death. He wasn't fighting it.<p>

He was half awake sometimes, a murmuring filling his ears, sounds and voices, almost arguing. Sometimes the pain got so much that he would start convulsing. This seemed to just increase the sounds of distress. Hands would hold him down. He realised the teeth must've been removed somewhere in the back of his head. One particularly bad time, when Alec was convinced he was going to break a bone, but unable to stop it, he heard a voice snapping out, "Hold him down, for God's sake, hold him down,", and then something was being poured down his throat as he choked slightly and he was out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

He woke to a rhythmic pain in his ribs, which, he realised, matched the movement of his breaths. Must've hurt them sparing with Jace, he thought. Aside from this, he was warm and comfortable, mounds of assorted blankets and pillows around him. He wiggled his feet and could feel a soft duvet against his socks. That was odd, he thought, he never slept with his socks on. And he never had this many blankets.

He pulled his eyes open with effort, the way you do when you awake from a very deep sleep. He never slept that well, either. Nightmares were a common affliction of Shadowhunters – angel blood couldn't stop the human side recoiling with horror at some of the things Shadowhunters witnessed.

He awoke to pink. Well, a face of pink pillow.

Odd, he thought.

He rolled onto his side - immediately regretting it when a burst of pain flared up.

The movement, despite the pain, gave him the ability to see where he was. The room was dark, the floor to ceiling rainbow curtains drawn, but light was escaping through the cracks at the edges. The room was brightly decorated with a wool rug on the floor. Clothes were strewn around the edges of the room, as if they had been hastily swept from the centre.

Feeling alarmed now, and confused where he was and the pain he was in, he rolled out of the bed and straightened up. It hurt like a bitch, but he did it through clenched teeth. Looking down and noticing he was shirtless, he could see the usual faint ugly scars all over his stomach and chest interrupted by permanent runes, however there were also newer grotesque wounds – at least six. His jeans were also heavy and stained. He looked a bit closer: it was blood.

Alec, not one to swear except in cases of severe circumstances – even to himself, could only ask himself one thing: _what the fuck?_

He inched forward to the closed door. There was none of his gear near him; all his weapons had been removed. He felt vulnerable and naked; well, more naked than he already was.

As he pulled open the door slowly, the sound of soft music was apparent. It was light, airy, jolly kind of music. It was really killing Alec's anxiety vibe. Serial killers wouldn't listen to that kind of stuff, would they?

He stepped out into a hallway and tried to follow the music. The place was eccentrically decorated, odd splashes of colour, which, somehow, seemed to work. It was alright, he supposed, but Alec was much more the minimalist kind of look. Snapping himself from thoughts of interior decorating, Alec moved forward, walking into a kitchen.

The first thing Alec noticed was the man sat around a circular wooden table. He was facing Alec but was engrossed in some book in front of him. The man's skin was tanned and he was clearly Asian, or of some Asian descent. He had long dark hair, which was spiked up around his head and streaked with green and blue. A loose white shirt, with strings holding the 'V' of the shirt together done up loosely, was work with an army jacket. Alec thought he looked about mid twenties.

"Would you like some coffee?" The man asked, eyes rising from his book, startling Alec. He now had a clear view of the man's face, which had heavy eyeliner on and a blue streaks on his cheeks like blusher. That was not what seized Alec's attention, however. It was the man's eyes: green and gold and identical to a cat's. "Coffee?" the man repeated when Alec didn't answer. He was staring at him expectantly but Alec was just stood there. Thoroughly and utterly confused. Did he know this person? "You can have tea if you'd prefer." The man spoke again, raising his eyebrows, studying Alec. Alec was suddenly very conscious of his absence of a shirt. Not in a particularly sexual way, but just because he was in that phase of adolescent shyness and he knew his skin was full of ugly scars. With Shadowhunters they were a badge of honour, with others… not so much.

"Ummm…" Alec started, but was unsure of what to say. He looked around the kitchen uneasily and then tried again. "Ummm, where am I?"

The man blinked at him, before leaning back on his chair, his book forgotten. He folded his arms across his chest. "How much do you remember?" the man asked.

"Remember?" Alec asked, confused, though starting to get the feeling he was missing something very important.

"About the attack," the man said slowly.

The attack? Alec thought, running through his mind what he remembered last. He was out walking on a Friday like he sometimes did. He had had a coffee, so had been longer than he had intended, and had therefore taken a shortcut… at this point, his brain skidded to 'pain'. Somehow, he had ended up with razors in his chest, he grasped.

"If it helps," the man began, "You walked into a vampire versus Greater Demon showdown. I heard it was quite the occasion."

Involuntarily, he glanced down at his tender chest and winced. Then winced again. A Greater Demon? Bloody hell, he was extremely lucky to escape with his life, let alone all his limbs.

A sympathetic noise caused Alec to look up, the man was staring at the scars the way a doctor would examine a patient. "There was only so much I could do about the scarring, I'm afraid," he said regretfully. "And the pain," he added, after a moment.

Working through the implications of this, but wanting confirmation nevertheless, Alec asked, "You healed me?"

The warlock nodded.

Alec blinked. "Um, thank you," Alec said, suddenly unable to make eye contact, his cheeks reddening. This man had saved his life.

"Sit down," the, who he now knew to be, warlock said amicably, nodding at a chair around the table. Alec did as he was told. "Coffee?" the man asked again. "No offence, but you look like death warmed over."

Alec believed it. He felt it. He kind of was death warmed over.

"Black, please," Alec mumbled. A black coffee appeared in front of Alec. Quite literally: it _appeared_. To Alec's credit, he didn't so much as blink at this, just mumbled, "Thank you," before sipping the scalding liquid. It was whilst drinking this, he realised he was starving. When was the last time he ate? Friday? And now, it was…

Wait, what day was it? He asked the warlock this, who replied casually, "Monday."

"Monday?" Alec squawked, his eyes widening in alarm, suddenly patting his pockets frantically. They would be worried sick at the institute. The one time Jace had pulled a stunt like this (but only going for two days), Alec had hugged him and then punched him repeatedly as hard as he could until his arm went tired, Jace just accepting this sentence. Even after giving Jace a black eye, Alec had refused to draw an iratze to heal it - and since Alec always did those, Jace'd healed the mundane way. "Have you seen my phone? I have to-"

The warlock cut him off calmly mid flow, "I rang the institute after you arrived. They know you're here- as a matter of fact, that Jake and Bella have been round here, quite persistently, I might add." At this, the warlock rolled his eyes, as if sharing his pain with Alec. "They'll probably be here again soon," he added, checking a watch that suddenly appeared in his hand with a quick snap of his fingers. Wondering if it was his own, or if the warlock had stolen it, Alec decided that since the warlock had saved his life, he should keep probably his mouth shut.

Alec, not bothering to correct the warlock on Jace and Izzy's names, repeated 'arrived here' in his head. "How did I get here?" Alec enquired, grimacing. He didn't think he had been in any state to walk anywhere, especially as he had no idea _where_ he was.

"Raphael brought you, of course. I must say, you made quite the entrance - everyone was talking about it." Magnus shook his head now, looking faintly bemused. "I've been trying to get him to one of my parties for decades - and the one time he turns up, he brings a three quarters dead teenage Shadowhunter wearing a shirt of his own dripping blood. "

"Raphael?" Alec asked slowly, confused. "He brought me here?"

"Well, carried," he corrected. "But don't worry; he's stronger than he looks." There was humour in that statement, Alec knew, but Alec wasn't concerned with it right then.

"Why?"

The warlock looked surprised at this question for a moment, as if other more practical questions should've been asked. He was probably right, Alec thought, but he wanted to know. Wanted to know why, when he had collapsed, when he had accepted the hand of death easily, he had been pulled back by someone who may've given him to death himself some other time. The warlock seemed to be figuring something out in his head. "Yes, it would seem quite strange to you, I suppose, as Shadowhunters generally think all Downworlders are apathetic to humanity," Magnus murmured, not giving Alec time to protest, before clearing his throat and speaking more clearly, "Well, after you saved his life, quite spectacularly I must add, and took about half a dozen teeth in your chest doing so, I reckon he felt rather indebted."

"He could've just let me die – no one apart from them would've known what happened," Alec pointed out. It wasn't that he thought badly about all Downworlders, but vampires… thinking of all the vampires he had ever encountered, it seemed to him that they'd value his life about as much as a dead spider. Something occurring to him, a forgotten bit of speech that was plucked out of the memory of a haze of pain, he added slowly, "I think one of them told him to let one of the others feed on me. Said it would be easier or something."

"Probably," the warlock agreed, leaning his chin on his hand – whether he was saying they had probably said that or that it would've been easier, Alec wasn't sure. "They weren't happy about it, but they dislike Shadowhunters just a bit less than they respect Raphael – and Raphael has a very particular moral code for those who save his life. Especially, I'm guessing – and this is all just conjecture – for fifteen year old Shadowhunters who are no _real_ allies of the vampires, not only saving his life, but nearly dying and going through huge amounts of pain whilst doing so." He paused for a moment, a grin erupting on his face. "I imagine he's quite furious with himself that he's indebted to a Shadowhunter. The only thing worse would be if you were dead and he could never get even."

Alec considered this for a long minute, the warlock just letting him think. It kind of made sense, he supposed - even if vampires had a severe disregard for human life, they had to abide by some kind of code. If not, they'd all exist in complete anarchy – and they had been human too once, in spite of the distance they maintained between them and humanity. "Why did he bring me to you?" Alec asked, feeling the pieces of a puzzle of his lost consciousness begin slotting into place.

"He's a… _friend_ of mine," he replied, making it clear in just one word that it was a _peculiar_ friendship. "Knew if anyone could help Greater Demon poisoning, it'd be me. If he hadn't run here and if you hadn't been so close, you'd have died. As it was, I was just going to find something to ease the passing, but Raphael wouldn't hear of it. They had to stay for a bit too, you're quite strong, you know. Even drugged, you had to be held down by at least three of them when you started having a fit - just so I could keep your heart beating. One of them looked like it was going for a bite at one point; luckily, Raphael was having none of that. Has the strongest willpower I've ever seen in a vampire, that one." He paused for a moment at this, looking like he was recalling something distant, before seeming to shake himself out of it and continuing, "Fortunately for you, there is a good blood bank around here, vampires can ascertain blood type and I know a nurse with detailed knowledge of blood transfusions.

Basically what I'm saying," the warlock finished, "Is that you're one hell of a lucky bastard."

There was a moment of silence where Alec stared at the top of the light brown table with a hard look. Reeling from the warlock's long speech, he was considering all the things that had to fall into place for him to be alive. Alec said, in all honesty, "I really thought I was going to die." He had. Honestly, truly had thought that was it. He knew Shadowhunters rarely lived long, but he had never thought he'd have died before he'd even hit adulthood. He had lain there, feeling so alone, and accepted death. There was a pause after Alec said this, and the warlock was studying him intently.

"I've been alive a long time," he said carefully, "I've known a lot of Nephilim. However… I've never known a Shadowhunter who has done something quite like that." Alec was unsure of what to say to this. He could feel the cat eyes staring at him, but Alec couldn't meet his eyes, and he was sure his fair skin in was as red as a pillar box. "So why did you?"

Alec thought, considering hard, but all he could come up with was, "I don't know." It was true: he really didn't know why. A moment of madness, maybe?

"Why did you even go down? You were alone, hardly prepared, not old enough to be an officially an employed Shadowhunter…" the warlock was pressing him now, looking intent. "You must've known how dangerous it was."

"I'm a Shadowhunter," Alec replied, after just a beat. "It's kind of an occupational hazard."

"Ahh, the life of a Shadowhunter," he murmured, almost sardonically.

Before Alec could question that statement, the sound of a buzzer rang through into the kitchen. Alec started slightly at the sound, always jumpy anyway, but now even more so. Ignoring Alec's knee hitting the table, the warlock hopped to his feet gracefully, moving out the kitchen and saying brightly, changing moods in half a second, "That'll be your siblings, I reckon."

True enough, Alec heard familiar voices a minute later.

"Magnus, how is he? Does he look like he'll wake up soon?" Izzy's voice floated out.

Magnus? As in Magnus Bane? As in Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn? Wow, Alec thought. However, he didn't dwell on that for as long as he usually would as a wave of pure reassurance had swept over Alec with Izzy's voice. He abruptly _had to_ see his siblings. Immediately. Couldn't even wait for them to get in the room, no matter how much pain he was in. Alec leapt to his feet and ignored any of the intense discomfort in his ribs that followed. Magnus had no time to reply to Izzy's question as Alec moved out of the kitchen and right in front of Izzy in a matter of moments.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, Alec just taking her in, Izzy staring at him and then the wounds on his chest, broken only by Magnus intoning, "Does that answer your question?" and then harsh sound of a palm hitting a cheek.

Alec's cheek, for that matter.

Clutching it, he looked at Isabelle a little blankly as she stared at him furiously, her hand still partially in the air. He recognised that she could hit a lot harder than that ordinarily, but he was still a bit stunned. He'd hit Jace that time, but Jace hadn't been accosted by a Greater Demon sticking their teeth in him. Having half a second to be stunned, he suddenly felt like his ribs were being broken again: this time by Izzy's arms around him, clutching him tightly. It was a good pain this time, he thought.

"That was for scaring me," she said, sounding almost tearful. "You stupid idiot."

Alec pressed his face into her shoulder, just breathing her in. He closed his eyes, and recognised vaguely that he was shaking a bit. It just kept running through his mind, _I almost died, I almost never saw her again._ The trauma and anxiety he felt came rushing back to him as he clutched her harder, pressing his face in to her shoulder more.

"You know," he heard Magnus drawl, "You Shadowhunters are really killing the whole scary, assassin vibe thing right now." There was pause, where Alec just kept breathing Izzy in. "Though, the slap did help," he mused.

Alec ignored him. Jace, however, did not.

"Really? I can try and fix that if you'd like?"

"For me?" Magnus said, sounding exaggeratedly flattered, "Don't I feel privileged."

Alec ignored this oddly stiff exchange and pulled back from Izzy, looking at Jace, his parabatai. Jace who was raising an eyebrow at Izzy, turned to look at Alec a moment after.

"Don't look at me like that," Izzy sniffed, "He hurt his chest, not his face."

"And what a shame that would've been," Magnus intercepted. Alec looked at him sharply, seeing if he was mocking him, but Magnus just stared back, his eyes twinkling not unkindly.

"By the Angel, Alec," Jace said, startling Alec from him looking at Magnus. "You gave me a heart attack." They locked eyes for a moment, before Jace grabbed him in a one armed hug, his other hand clutching at a paper bag. The smell coming from it was highly distracting.

"Is that food?" he asked, eyeing it up, his stomach twisting, getting over his fear in about half a second at the smell of nourishment.

In response, Jace silently handed him the paper bag. Alec, taking a moment to thank him, began to devour the sandwich inside with a relish he had never felt for chicken sandwiches before.

"Did you not feed him, Magnus?" Isabelle asked critically, despite her thirteen years of age compared to Magnus'… numerous years. She was eyeing Alec distastefully, as if he was an anaconda devouring a small bunny.

Magnus sounded amused when he replied, "It's not a B and B. Anyway, he's just woken up – which reminds me-" He turned to fix Alec with a stern look. "You need some more pain relief."

"I don't feel that bad," Alec protested between bites. His statement was correct – compared to how he had felt a few days ago, he felt like he was living on a rainbow.

Magnus rolled his eyes. "That would be because of the pain relief I've been giving you." Moving into the kitchen, the siblings all followed him, where Magnus was rooting around in the cupboards. Alec moved and sat down on the chair, Isabelle mimicked him, whereas Jace just leaned back against the side with his arms folded, facing Alec.

Alec noticed that Jace was studying him intently, an almost confused look on his face. Alec raised an eyebrow. Jace shrugged with one shoulder.

"Never took you one for charging into suicidal fights." The tone Jace used wasn't accusing or annoyed, just baffled. It must be strange, Alec mused, to see someone you know so well do something you never expected.

"I didn't really mean to," Alec said, his cheeks reddening inexplicably. "When I realised what was happening, I tried to ring you, but it was too late."

"And by late, you mean you already had Demon teeth stuck in you?" Jace asked innocently. It was too soon to joke about it, he thought, as he looked around to see if there was anything to throw at Jace.

There wasn't.

Interrupting the glaring contest between Alec and Jace, Magnus pushed a glass of turquoise liquid in front of Alec.

"What's that?" Alec asked nervously, leaning back involuntarily from the liquid.

"Pain relief," Magnus answered, as Alec looked at him with an alarmed expression. Seeing this, Magnus replied, smirking, "I just used a considerable amount of energy saving your life; I'd hardly kill you now. Call it professional pride."

Alec opened his mouth and looked down, then said a little meekly, "Don't you have any aspirin?"

"Drink it," Magnus ordered, watching him intently. Alec, deciding it'd be rude not to, picked up the glass, and then, not bothering to hesitate, chugged it back. Alec slammed the glass down after finishing the contents in record time, grimacing as his eyes watered, taking the glass of water held in front of him and gulping it back desperately.

That was revolting.

Alec said as much. Magnus just tutted.

"I'll have to give you some for when you leave," Magnus said, studying a jar full of light blue powder. "You have to take it three times a day, at least four hours apart, two teaspoons in a glass of water – it's strong." He handed the jar to Alec at this, which Alec accepted with a mumbled thank you. "You know," Magnus said thoughtfully, swinging down into a seat. "As nice as having a permanently unconscious Shadowhunter lying in my bed has been, I'm rather glad to be getting it back."

Alec's face coloured. "Sorry," Alec muttered at the table.

"Not to worry, darling," Magnus drawled.

"What I want to know," Isabelle spoke up, frowning. "Is why a Greater Demon attacked a load of vampires." She was tapping her painted nails rhythmically on the table, the other hand propping her up under the chin. Magnus had clearly filled her in.

"Ahh," Magnus said.

"Ahh?" Jace said now, giving Magnus a mistrustful look.

"Well," he said unhurriedly. "This information isn't usually given to the Nephilim…" Alec thought he detected a hint of dislike in the word 'Nephilim'. "But seen as young Alexander here," he nodded to Alec at this, before continuing, "Got rather brutally caught in the crossfire, I doubt anyone would have the grounds to object…" The warlock narrowed his eyes rather contemplatively at the wall, brooding.

"I don't care whether they would or wouldn't," Jace started, sounding furious. "You can tell us or the Clave-"

"I don't take orders from the likes of you –or the Clave, for that matter," Magnus interrupted icily. He looked cold now and Alec felt a pang of annoyance at Jace. Magnus had just saved his life.

"I apologise for him," Isabelle said, shortly, giving Jace a look. "What were you saying?"

Magnus turns his head slowly away from Jace, before relaxing and grinning brightly at Alec. "You interfered, my dear, in a part of a pissing contest between the New York vampires."

Alec felt that same pissed off feeling he'd felt on Friday whilst staring at the incarnation of hell. He'd had Greater Demon fangs imbedded in his body, unknown amounts of pain, had touched death, for a fucking _'pissing contest'_?

Alec decided he'd have to take some time to re-evaluate his position on swearing. There were some very colourful words he'd like to use right now.

"What?" Isabelle queried incredulously, pretty much speaking for all the siblings. "The vampires are a united clan, and anyway, they wouldn't be able to summon a Demon, let alone a Greater one." She paused then, before her eyes narrowed. "Not unless they'd had a warlock's help." There was undeniable suspicion in her voice. Under normal circumstances, Alec could see the leaps: there were vampires fighting, they wanted to summon demons, only a warlock could, there was a warlock who was seemingly friendly with vampires… oh, the name Magnus Bane sprang to mind. However, why would the said attacked vampires have turned to Magnus Bane for help if he'd attacked them? It didn't make sense, Alec knew.

Magnus gave her a hard look that made her cheeks flush – it was surprising to Alec that Izzy could blush. Then again, Magnus Bane was an adult and Izzy was still a 13 year old. "You're right; they would have needed a warlock. If you're asking if it was me, however, the answer is no. I see no need to summon Greater Demons to kill vampires. I could do my own dirty work if I needed to. As to why… let's say there's a… power struggle going on between the current leader of the Clan and Raphael."

"Why doesn't the Clave know about this?" Jace asked, interrupting.

"Because the Clave don't have the right to all our business," Magnus said. 'He said this in such a forceful tone that Jace seemed to hesitate before arguing with him.

"Maybe not," Jace conceded. "But this time Greater Demons were involved – that could've been disastrous."

"Which is why," Magnus said, as if Jace were dumb. "I'm telling you now."

"We'll have to tell our parents," Alec declared, looking at Magnus apologetically. Magnus smiled faintly at his expression. "Wait," Alec said, something occurring to him. "Where are they?" He asked, looking at Izzy.

Izzy's face distorted into an exasperated expression at this. "When they knew you were going to be okay, they decided to stay with their work in Idris." Izzy said this like she was saying their parents had suddenly taken to skinning puppies alive as a new hobby. Alec felt something akin to hurt inside his gut. _It doesn't matter_, he thought, _I'm fine – coming home would be a waste_. Unfortunately, thinking something and believing something, Alec knew, were very different.

"Oh," is all he responded with, a little stiffly. An awkward silence followed and Alec noted a disgusted look on Magnus' face. Alec felt red staining his cheekbones again; he didn't want people to think badly of his family, no matter what he felt about certain things. Alec wracked his brain for something to say, but he'd never been good socially or with ice breakers. The way he saw it, you were either relaxed or you weren't, you couldn't force a situation. It was quite clear which of those options he felt right then.

"Oh," Magnus exclaimed abruptly. "I almost forgot." Not saying what he almost forgot, he leaped up and moved the way Alec had come in. Alec glanced at Izzy with his eyebrows raised. She just shrugged in answer.

Magnus came back clutching a cardboard box with no lid in two hands. He set it on the table with relish.

"Call me a little morbid," Magnus started, reaching into the box. "But I thought you might want the souvenirs." At this, he pulled out a long white tooth, stained with red, which Alec recognised as having been previously imbedded in his body. The red being his blood.

Alec stared at Magnus incredulously.

"I'm keeping one – I hope you don't mind. My work on you was some of my best." Alec didn't think Magnus would care if he did mind.

"Are you serious?" Jace's voice rang out. "He almost dies and you want to keep little dagger trophies?" Jace looked about three seconds away from trying to maim Magnus' with said dagger trophies.

Trying to diffuse what was rapidly becoming a situation, Alec wracked his brain for a suitable response. The only response Alec could come up with was, "Why didn't they disappear when the Demon died?"

"They have your blood on," Magnus explained, quite a bit too gleefully even for Alec. "It's complicated, but it basically neutralises the demonic forces on it."

"I don't think we'll be wanting those," Isabelle's voice rang out, her jaw tense.

"I don't recall asking you," Magnus replied, ignoring Isabelle again, not even glancing away from Alec, a stained tooth clutched in the palm of his hand. It was long and pointed, and Alec could _hear_ his flesh ripping and squelching underneath it. He felt a dull pain blooming in his chest.

"Well, do you want it, Alec?" Isabelle demanded, turning to him. She looked aggravated and Alec knew there was only one correct answer to her.

"I don't know," is all Alec said, however, unsure of what to say. Izzy was his sibling, but Magnus had just saved his life – and Alec didn't know whether he actually wanted it - as a sort of morbid trophy.

"I thought it'd be something you'd like," Magnus said, raising his eyebrows. "A reminder of you defeating demons and just missing death and such forth and whatnot."

"Exactly!" Izzy hissed. "He'd be reminded of _just_ missing death all the time."

"Missing death," Magnus said, looking more and more irate. "Is not '_dead'_."

Alec was beginning to get annoyed at being talked for, however seeing as Jace's mouth was beginning to open, Alec jumped in hastily, "I'll take it. Thank you." Magnus seemed pleased at this.

The sound of a phone ringing startled everyone from what they were doing, Izzy and Jace looking around to see whose phone it was. It was a light cheery tune, ringing out in the silence of the room.

"If you'll just excuse me," Magnus said, looking very insincerely apologetic as he stood up and whipped out a bright purple mobile phone. "Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn…" Magnus' voice trailed off as he moved out of the room and Izzy turned to look at Alec with a scowl.

"What?" Alec asked, putting his hands up defensively. Izzy scowled even more. Whatever she was going to say, however, was stopped by Magnus Bane striding back into the room and turning to speak to them.

"As much as a pleasure having you all here has been," Magnus Bane said cheerfully. "It's time for me to reclaim my apartment. By which I mean, I'm going out and I don't trust you not to trash it."

Izzy looked rather offended at this. "Who do you think-"

"Oh no," Magnus interrupted, "It's not you and Alexander I'm worried about." He gave a pointed look at Jace. Jace, in seeing this, just shrugged as a smirk made its way onto his face.

Alec, wincing internally at 'Alexander', jumped up. "I'll just get dressed," he stated, before pausing. "Do you have my clothes?"

"Ruined," Magnus said in response, standing up. "Come with me. I'll have to find you some jeans."

Alec glanced at Izzy and Jace accusingly. "Did you not bring me any?"

"As much as I'd like to sort out your wardrobe Alec, I had other things on my mind," Izzy scowled at him. The apparent joy she'd felt at seeing him was clearly over.

Alec looked down at the blood splattered, ripped jeans, deciding not to argue on that front. On the other hand, Alec was a little worried about what trousers Magnus would give him. He had seen the warlock's clothes and prayed he owned something inconspicuous and preferably black.

He got the black t-shirt he wanted, with the minor catch that it had 'blink if you want me' written on it, and a pair of loose, too long, jogging pants. The type of pants that were made for lying around the house in, moping and eating ice cream. Alec didn't care. He was just relieved they didn't have anything printed on the ass.

"Alexander," Magnus started, before he went to leave Alec to change in the room. Magnus was looking contemplative and unfocused, peering past Alec and at the rainbow curtains, only open enough to let a small amount of light in. "I feel like I need to remind you about the kind of… _power,_ you have right now. Raphael Santiago is a powerful ally for anyone, especially a Shadowhunter. You would do well to remember that."

Alec stared at him. "Okay," he said. To be honest, Alec didn't think of it like that. He might've saved the vampire's life, but that didn't mean he wanted to take any favours from him. Vampires were treacherous creatures - no matter what they owed you. He firmly believed that he was still a meal to that vampire. Still food. A farmer might think a small lamb was cute - might stroke it, might care for it - but that didn't make him a vegetarian. "Thank you," Alec said, before Magnus left the room. Magnus turned to look at him, both eyebrows raised. "For saving my life," Alec clarified. He looked down, thinking. "You should bill the Institute. My parents can pay."

Magnus laughed at that, though he was smiling at Alec a little fondly. Alec struggled to find the joke. "Stupid Shadowhunter - you still don't get it, do you?" Magnus shook his head, still looking mildly affectionate towards Alec, his tone not corresponding to his words. "Raphael already settled the cost." Still shaking his head, Magnus moved out the room, leaving Alec to stiffly change his clothes, wincing through the pain.

They got back to the institute quickly after that. Isabelle had insisted they get a taxi, stating it was too much for Alec to get the subway or walk in his condition. He'd have protested, but since he was hurting and the potion was the only thing keeping the edge off, he didn't bother. In addition, he didn't fancy carrying blood covered daggers around. Instead, he got home and climbed into bed, curling up on the covers, shoving the box of 'souvenirs' under his bed.

His pain relief was on the nightstand and Alec had to force himself not to take any more - or risk overdosing. He hurt everywhere. He could still feel faint pain where the teeth had sunk in, despite the healed knew the pain might be psychosomatic, which would suck, to put it bluntly. Pain and injuries were hard enough to deal with, even worse when they were in your head – because time couldn't just heal that pain away.

His eventual exhausted sleep was filled by intense nightmares like a loop of film. He felt teeth sinking into him, heard the popping and squelching and grinding of his body, smelt the metallic scent of blood mixed with the rank stench of the demon's odour, he felt death like a whisper. He accepted it every time, and, in his dreams, nothing pulled him back. He just went under.


End file.
